Thailand - any top tips

[BG2015]

We are off to Thailand for 5 weeks at the beginning of November. We are so excited and have been planning this trip for ages. We are staying in Bangkok, Phuket, Ao Nang, Koh Lanta and finally Koh Lipe.

Any places or excursions you absolutely loved. All our accommodation is sorted and we have breakfast at all our hotels, so just need to find lunch and evening meal.

We have budgeted £900-1200 for food and drinks. But have no real idea of how much we will spend.

We have already booked and paid for a lot of our internal travel (flights and speedboats)

Any tips would be greatly appreciated

Eat street food on the Yaowarat Road in Bangkoks Chinatown. Had some incredible crispy pork belly and plates of delicious stir fried noodles and fried rice. Take the river ferry buses to get around - traffic in Bangkok can be crazy so avoid taxis as much as possible. We had dinner one night at this spot on the river that looked out onto the Wat Arun temple - great Thai food and the view of the temple at sunset was glorious - this is the place https://maps.app.goo.gl/cHXL5ycQiFCZbBE59?g_st=ic

The malls are something else in Bangkok - try the MBK Centre which is…interesting, or Icon Siam which is enormous and has a massive food market on its lower level. And don’t knock a Thai McDonald’s when you need a break from Thai food! Had a delicious pineapple pie there, plus the savoury options are really interesting - and believe me even though Thai food is fantastic, you will need a break at times from it if you are there for 5 weeks. Plus of course you have to see the reclining Buddha and the other big tourist attractions While in Bangkok.

We love Thailand but have only been to Bangkok and the 3 gulf islands.
Bangkok is an amazing city-

• Chinatown at night
• floating market
• muy Thai at the ranjamaderm stadium ( this was a highlight of our trip)
• night cruise on river
• hop on / hop off river taxi
• asiatique

Down load the Grab app for travel. Its the asian version of uber.

There will be people who do laundry for a couple of quid close to all hotels. Use them.

You might like to hire drivers rather than do organised tours.

Try a cooking class.

Have a wonderful time

We’re going in February to Phuket and have previously been to Bangkok and Pattaya. If your travel arrangements include buses, sometimes it’s not a bus but actually a 4x4 with sideways seats in the back and no seatbelts. They seemed safe enough. English was very widely spoken. It’s a very easy country for free travel.

Thanks everyone - great tips

From Ao Nang definitely go to the Hong Islands and on Koh Lanta do a cooking class at Time for Lime (also an amazing animal rescue). Have a wonderful time x

Book a snorkelling trip around the islands off Koh Lanta, so beautiful with incredible marine life!

I've read that Hong Island is a great trip to do. Thanks

DO NOT have a Thai massage.

We went to Phuket in March on a whim and loved it. We are just about to book a 3 destination trip for next march to different areas of Thailand.

In Phuket, Nai Harn beach was incredible. We visited Bukit Elephant Park, you are not allowed to touch or get amongst the elephants, so seemed the most ethical. It was a great experience.

We had several massages /treatments while we were in Phuket. A foot massage at the end of an evening out was amazing!

We did a day trip to James Bond Island and a few other places, I would definitely not recommend. Its literally a photo opportunity and feels like a bit of a waste of a day.

Ao Nang is one of our destinations next year too, so good to see what tips you get.

Bangkok bike tour night cycle - so pretty!

I had a Thai massage ! It was just a massage. But be careful read reviews. Thailand is super cheap for food. Icon Siam is amazing I ate for around £1 a night there in 2019 with all the fresh cooked rice and noodles. My favourite place in the world am desperately trying to get back there! So jealous!

Five weeks sounds like a great trip, but if the £900–1,200 is for food and drinks for two people, I think you may be under-budgeting a bit. £1,200 works out at only about £34 a day between you. Breakfast is covered, but Phuket, Koh Lanta and Koh Lipe aren’t always cheap once you add seafood, beachfront restaurants, coffees and a few drinks.

I’d also keep a separate budget for entertainment. Massages, shows, nightlife, boat trips, snorkelling and island hopping are all part of the Thailand experience and can add up quite a bit over five weeks.

For the itinerary, I’d do Chinatown one evening in Bangkok and maybe see a show, spend a day at Railay from Ao Nang, then slow things down in Koh Lanta and Koh Lipe with beaches and snorkelling.

With five weeks you’ve got plenty of time, so I wouldn’t book every excursion in advance. You can decide once you’re there depending on the weather and what you fancy doing.

The Thai massage I had was the most painful experience of my life and I had 9lb babies!! I think I should have asked for an aromatherapy massage 😰

Haha, I know what you mean! I’m not a big fan of traditional Thai massage either. I mainly tried it for the local experience, but I much prefer a relaxing spa treatment. A holiday is supposed to be relaxing, not painful! 😄

Thai massages aren't on my list of things to do.
Our total budget is £4K, we have paid for some accommodation already with some yet to be paid on arrival, we have also booked some internal travel and that's paid for too. We reckon we have about £90-100 a day for our budget but that can be stretched. That includes food and activities. I'm sure some days we will spend less and some days more - but we will see how we go.

We have 7 days in Koh Lipe - apparently the Maldives of Thailand and apart from some snorkelling and maybe one boat trip this will be our chill week. So here we probably won't spend much.

Disagree.

You should have a Thai massage every day.